Report: More than half of consumers use online searches before buying
How do your digital marketing campaigns fare on search engines? A survey of U.S. consumers show that many turn to it to make purchasing decisions—but improvements can be made.
Online search has come far since then—and it’s not just the advertising models. Google’s algorithm has become phenomenally complex. There are entire careers that are built on figuring out how to have content appear on top.
Though online search has become ubiquitous, many consumers in the United States aren’t completely satisfied with their online search experience, a recent study from SearchDex revealed.
The company’s 2017 Google Game Survey found that 58 percent of U.S. consumers search a product online before making a purchase, and more than a quarter of them seek online reviews. Consumers also use digital searches to find various retailer options (26 percent), compare prices (25 percent) and find physical retail store locations (19 percent).
One third of U.S. consumers report that their shopping experiences begin with a search engine. That’s higher than retailer websites (20 percent), retail store websites (18 percent) and brand websites (15 percent).
As mentioned, digital search results still aren’t perfect. This is due, in large part, to unsavory marketing and SEO tactics. Some brand managers are able to game the system and get eyes on their organizations’ sites when it’s not necessarily warranted.
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